


Supposedly Unrequited

by orphan_account



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - No Pennywise (IT), Background Relationships, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, M/M, Non-Graphic Smut, Underage Drinking, Underage Smoking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-20
Updated: 2020-08-21
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:48:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26007496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: When Eddie expresses a liking of the new girl, Greta, Richie's feelings for him have to be hidden. However, when Stan tells Richie something quite shocking, it might just change his whole stance.
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Comments: 3
Kudos: 12





	1. Chapter 1

The losers were all cramped in their clubhouse, all slightly sweating and uncomfortable because of the incessant heat numbing their senses. It was the last day of summer, school was starting again and they couldn't find it in themselves to be excited about it at all. 

Tomorrow they would all be starting their junior year of highschool with the rest of their peers. They should be happier about being one step closer to becoming independent and recognised adults in society, however all of them shared the same view– they didn't want their childhood to end, no matter how messed up some of their lives were. 

The soft melody of Everybody Wants To Rule The World danced through the clubhouse from the radio Beverly stole from her aunt's garage, it being one of the many sounds to add to the chaos happening from the losers. 

The losers decided to have a small party consisting of only them. Fairy lights from Eddie's collection of random objects were nestled neatly around the support beams of the clubhouse, snacks and blankets provided by Beverly and Richie, board games supplied by Bill and Ben, Stan and Mike brought nothing but themselves to the occasion. 

Here the losers were, all huddled around the Monopoly board: a classic party game. Stan was currently winning. 

"Stan what the fuck, dude?! How have you got so much money already?!" Richie glared playfully at his curly haired friend, earning the middle finger back. 

"Can we all just agree that Stan is cheating?" Beverly laughed. The atmosphere was amusing among them.

"Oh fuck off, you're just jealous because of my amazing Monopoly skills!" Stan scoffed and urged Bill to finally roll the dice. 

"I s-suh-swear to G-God Stan, if I l-luh-land on one of your p-p-properties I will murder you," Bill joked as the dice jumped in his clasped, shaking palms. Looks like luck was only on Stan's side as Bill had landed on one of Stan's most expensive properties. 

"F-fuh-fuck's sake!" Bill groaned, Stan mimicked an evil laugh. 

"What a great time to have capitalism!" Stan grinned at his moody friends. 

"Can we do something else? Stan is annoying me," Eddie suggested as if Stan couldn't hear him. Stan stuck his tongue out at the small hypochondriac. 

"How about Twister?" Mike piped up. Everyone agreed with enthusiasm, getting up to pack away Monopoly. 

"Be right back guys, it's time for mine and Richie's smoke break!" Beverly dusted off her black jean shorts. Richie shot up from his position on the floor and raced up the ladder, he was so desperate for a puff of a Marlboro cigarette. 

The warm evening breeze rustled through Richie's curly hair as his head popped out from beneath the ground– the clubhouse got significantly warmer and stuffy than it was outside most days, especially during the summer. 

"Hurry up Bev!" Richie shouted at his fiery-haired friend. Beverly pulled herself up onto her feet once she climbed to the top of the ladder, dusting her hands from the dirt. 

"Calm your tits, Rich," Beverly chuckled. She grabbed her own pack of cigarettes out of her shoulder purse, her green lighter too. Richie put one of his Marlboros between his chapped, bitten lips and lit it up. The golden sunset matched the burning embers of the 'cancer sticks' (as Stan and Eddie liked to nickname them) between two damaged teen's lips. 

They were quiet for a couple seconds, so Richie, becoming uncomfortable because of his fear of silence, decided to be the one to slice through the uncomfortable atmosphere. "Are you going to tell him?" Richie puffed out smoke. 

Beverly gave him a pointed look, "are you going to tell him?" Richie felt his neck and cheeks grow red. He knew he should have expected that response, Beverly was as stubborn as a mule. 

"I… Maybe. I don't want to ruin our friendship, besides, Eddie probably doesn't even like me back," Richie winced at his own words. He had liked Eddie since 7th grade, and he wasn't prepared to tell anyone else apart from Beverly and Stan. He knew they were accepting of his sexuality, which was rare for their small minded town in 1992. He would have told the rest of the losers about being gay, however he didn't have a clue if they were homophobic or not. Richie desperately hoped they weren't. 

"I know it's hard Richie, but you have had a crush on Eddie for, like, 4 years now. At least try and make a move on him. Obviously don't if he doesn't swing that way but he never disclosed his sexuality, so it wouldn't hurt to at least try," Beverly gave a final puff of her cigarette and dropped the butt on the floor, making sure to stamp out the remaining embers. Richie copied her actions. "We're playing Twister, right? So maybe try and do something then, ya never know, trashmouth." Richie rolled his eyes and began to usher her back down in the clubhouse. 

"About time, idiots! We were waiting for you," Eddie plastered a fake scowl on his softer features.

"Aww, was my wittle Eds missing me?" Richie grinned and engulfed Eddie into a bone crushing hug. 

"Fuck off, asshat- get off me- and don't call me Eds!" Eddie groaned and attempted to push away from Richie's death grip, but he was too weak. 

"Guys stop flirting and come play!" Mike laughed at his squabbling friends. Richie could feel his cheeks go red, so he let go of Eddie and pushed his glasses up his nose, a habit he began to recognise he did every time he was flustered or nervous. 

"W-we weren't flirting, idiot! Rich is just being an asshole again!" Eddie huffed with bright red cheeks, his crossed arms flush against his chest. Richie decided to ignore Eddie blushing, blaming it on the heat, but deep down he really hoped Eddie thought the same way as he did. Richie wasn't emotionally strong enough to handle heartbreak. 

Beverly gave Richie a small smirk in a knowing fashion which he decided to ignore once again. He wasn't in the mood to be teased about his raging homosexual feelings for his best friend. 

Stan decided to be the spinner of the game, blaming it on not wanting to be stuck between sweat ridden bodies. I don't know why Eddie isn't sitting this one out, Richie pondered. Stan and Eddie have a major thing in common, and that was having a consistent disliking for germs and anything dirty. Richie shrugged it off and just stood around the mat. 

"Okay, Beverly… Right foot red," Stan shouted, although there was no need because there wasn't much noise anyway and the clubhouse wasn't huge. Beverly followed the instructions, and so did the rest of the group when Stan called out which limbs belonged on which colours. Their bodies were all tangled in no time, with complaints and whining coming from each one of the members, apart from Stan. He was glad he was not a part of the massive pile of bodies. 

"R-Ruh-Richie, get your f-f-foot out of my f-face!" Bill growled. 

"It's not my fault! Blame the damn creators of this stupid ga- Beverly why does your arm have to be RIGHT IN MY FACE!" Richie groaned. Beverly laughed at their position. "Stop laughing Beaverly, now move over dickhead- wow Eds, didn't know you had such a fat ass!" Richie changed the whole entire subject. 

"Beep beep, Rich! Stop looking at my fucking ass, you creep!" Eddie attempted to lift his bottom from the air, but his leg's position made it impossible, so he had to stay like that until Stan said so, or someone on the mat collapsed. He cursed himself for blushing at such an obscene compliment from his best friend. I'm not gay, that's a sin, Eddie thought to himself. 

"Ben! Left hand blue!" Stan interrupted the fighting teens on the ground. 

"Are you kidding me?! I can't reach my hand that far!" Ben complained, but still tried. He was almost successful until he wobbled and fell down, causing a chain reaction to ripple through his friends. Despite the insults and complaints (and compliments) they threw at each other, they all laughed at the obscure position they held on the floor. Stan looked like he was going to wet himself laughing. 

"Well that was a weird game," Mike beamed. They all agreed lightheartedly and began to stand up, stretching their bodies. 

"Woah, it's already 9pm! My mom will kill me if I'm not back before 10!" Eddie rushed around gathering his things. 

"I need to drop you guys off, so let's go," Mike grabbed his keys to his truck. He was able to pass his driver's test with flying colours, mainly because he used to drive even before getting his license. The losers all helped tidy up before escaping through the hatch. It got way darker after Beverly and Richie had a smoke.

One by one, the losers all said goodbye, the truck being released from the overwhelming seven friends occupying it. Richie didn't want to go home, but he had to. It was the night before the first day of school, and his house was the place where his clothes and other essentials were kept. Mike eventually got to Richie's one storey house, and waved goodbye, driving off in the other direction to get to his farm. 

Richie braced himself before slowly creaking the front door open. He tried to convince himself that his parent's constant abandonment and absence was not his fault, but every time he walked through the deceiving hallway to his room, his self-loathing and doubt started to kick in. Most nights, he tried to listen to his music tapes, that he may or may not have stolen, on his very used walkman. He wondered how the headphones weren't broken from how much he used them. 

Today was no different. His usual routine keeping up it's brand of being usual. He trekked up the carpeted steps to his bedroom to grab clothes for after his shower. 

His showers usually consisted of 3 minutes of washing himself, and 57 more minutes of being trapped within the suffocating walls of his mind. Wherever he went, it was like his mind constantly plunged itself into existential crises at every waking opportunity. The only thing able to drown it out was noise to distract himself. 

He finished up in the shower and silently ghosted over to his insanely messy room. He always promised his parents he would clean it up, but he never did. It didn't matter anyway, it wasn't like they cared about him in actuality. 

He slipped himself under his grey covers, putting on his well-worn headphones connecting to his walkman with a particular tape Richie liked to play everytime he went to sleep. He slowly fell asleep to the soft melody of Love of My Life by Queen, dreaming of his own love of his life.


	2. Chapter 2

The first morning back to school was not at all eventful. The losers were expecting more of an uproar from the students considering they could start anew, however, it was as if they hadn't spent a whole 3 months from their highschool. Nothing changed, apart from a new student. 

Since Richie and Eddie had the same morning class, they decided to sit next to each other.  
"I heard that there's a new person. I hope they're hot," Eddie bashfully admitted to his taller best friend. Richie ignored the pang of jealousy resting in his heart. 

"Oh ho ho, is Eddie Spaghetti looking for a lover?" Richie winked, acting as though no elements of their current conversation was fueling his jealousy with every word Eddie mentioned of this new character in school. 

"I mean, it wouldn't hurt to have experience," Eddie shrugged. Then why don't you be with me instead? Richie internally responded.  
They reached their Biology classroom, thankful that the desks were positioned in pairs. They immediately claimed the two seats in the middle next to the wall; perfect position for you to be out of sight of the teacher, without the teacher being suspicious of you.  
The rest of their peers flowed through the classroom door one by one, the teacher entering with a teenage girl. 

"Quieten down, guys! I need to introduce y'all to Miss Keene over here," Their teacher, Mr. Thomas shushed the busied classroom. "Now then, I would like for you to all meet our new team member, Greta Keene!" Silence ensued over the classroom, ushering an awkward atmosphere, Greta looked like she had no interest in any of her surroundings, only focused on smacking her lips whilst chewing pink bubblegum. "Greta… Uh, why don't you take a seat?" Mr. Thomas grinned awkwardly. Greta rolled her eyes and sat right at the back. 

"You sure you wanna date her, Eds?" Richie whispered, making sure that their teacher (who was now on about class regulations and so on) couldn't hear them. 

"She's, uh, cool. I-I like, um, cool people," Eddie stammered. Richie didn't believe a single word that just came out of Eddie's small lips, but he kept that statement to himself. 

"If you say so, spaghetti," Richie gave a small smile.  
Throughout the lesson, Richie caught Eddie staring. But not at him, at the new girl, Greta Keene. Every time his brown eyes landed on his best friend, his heart tore a little more. All it seemed that Eddie could do for the hour was stare at the girl. 

The lesson, which Richie had thought went excruciatingly slowly, had finally come to a halt, as it was time for their next round of learning. Everyone packed their things away, and headed out of the classroom. 

Richie waved a goodbye to Eddie, promising to see him later on in the day, and headed off to his next class– which conveniently for Richie, he shared with Stan. He wanted to complain about Eddie's newfound crush, and so that's exactly what he did. 

"Can you fucking believe Eddie has a crush on someone without even knowing anything about them?! Like, what if Greta's a bitch?! Why can't Eddie like me? This is so unfair," Richie slumped in his seat next to Stan. 

"Woah, woah, wait what? Eddie likes the new girl?" Stan slowed down his rampant friend. Richie groaned at hearing the sentence from someone else's mouth. 

"You don't have to rub it in my face!" Richie crossed his arms on his desk and planted his face on them. He just wanted the school day to end already, and it had only been 1 hour. 

"Richie, you know this isn't the end of the world, right?" Stan pinched the bridge of his nose out of frustration. 

"Fucking feels like it," Richie groaned. Stan rolled his eyes. 

"Maybe he won't like her in the end. Besides, what's stopping you from winning Eddie from her?" Stan sat back, waiting for Richie to respond. He assumed Richie was thinking about the option as he hadn't heard his friend in peril reply straight away. Richie sat up and faced Stan properly. 

"But what if he doesn't swing that way?" Richie's magnified eyes were wide with curiosity and doubt. 

"Just ask him then," Stan simply shrugged. Richie looked at his friend dumbfounded. 

"I can't just ask him, Stan. It's not that simple! What if he's homophobic? Plus it would look super sus if I just walked up to him and asked if he was gay," Richie protested, not stopping to take a breath. 

"Well then just wait for an opening. Richie, I'm not the best person to ask about this stuff," Stan shook his head. He wished he could help Richie, but he genuinely had no idea what was going on in his brain and basically in general between Richie and Eddie. Stan was utterly confused when Richie finally confessed his feelings for Eddie, thinking those two were secretly dating with the amount of sexual tension radiating from the two teens who always seemed to be together– and flirting, to make things more interesting (although the flirting was just bickering, but that was enough for Stan to deem it flirting anyway).

"Are you serious? You can't tell me you're at least a little gay. I've seen you looking at Bill in a not so friendly way, Staniel," Richie redirected the conversation with a smirk growing on his lips, though the accusation barely made a dent in Stan's character. 

"Stop changing the conversation to be about me, Rich. You can't avoid your feelings for Eddie forever. Also, something tells me that Eddie likes you back," Stan wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, who laughed once he got the reaction he wanted: a confused and flustered Richie. 

"Well he is obviously straight, Stanley. He has a crush on a woman for fuck's sake," Richie's red cheeks did not falter in colour. Stan only waved him off, getting back to his work, which was fine with Richie because he wasn't really in the mood to talk about his crush not liking him back. He kind of lacked the excitement in seeing his friends— more specifically Eddie– at lunch, knowing that said crush would go crazy about liking someone who isn't him. Who isn't Richie. 

Once his morning and before-lunch classes were over, Richie took the long way to the cafeteria. He couldn't be asked to see Eddie anymore, Greta was probably in there too. He didn't want to witness Eddie fawning over someone, who wasn't him, again. 

Nevertheless, you can't delay the inevitable. So here he was, squished between the concrete wall and Eddie on an extremely uncomfortable cafeteria bench. He wasn't in the mood to eat that day, only grabbing a soda from one of the school's vending machines in an attempt to lengthen his journey to the dreaded lunch room, which always somehow smelled like pure grease and body odor. 

In light of Richie's situation, Greta Keene was nowhere to be seen. That meant Eddie could be distracted by something else. That something else was the norm– arguing playfully with Richie, while Stan and Beverly gave each other knowing looks, which were also directed to Richie (but Richie was always too busy paying attention to Eddie). 

"Richie, you need to eat and drink better! No wonder why your skin looks so bad," Eddie tutted at his best friend. 

"Well, soda has water in it, so…" Richie shrugged, pushing up his thick glasses which magnified his, surprisingly, pretty eyes. Eddie always loved Richie's eyes. He loved staring at them when he wasn't looking. But of course Eddie wasn't gay, he was just simply admiring and observing a person he was close with… At least that's what Eddie tried to convince himself with. 

"I can't even begin to explain how stupid that claim is, so I won't even try," Eddie says, pushing his bag of baby carrots to Richie's direction. As if on cue, Richie's stomach growled lowly when the bag hit his hand lightly. He forgot how hungry he was because he was too busy pining over Eddie. 

"Thanks spaghetti!" Richie gave a genuine smile, one that made Eddie feel things in his own stomach. I'm just hungry, he tries to convince himself, so with that in mind, he dug in straight away to the apple his mom packed for him in his lunch box. Richie's eyes following his every move. 

Stan, who was seated directly across from Richie, cleared his throat loud enough to get only Richie's attention. He gave Richie a look, as if to silently say make a move, dumbass. Richie knew exactly what Stan was trying to say, so, he decided to think fuck it, now or never, trashmouth! 

Richie's gaze lifted from Eddie's face, who was currently preoccupied with eating his apple and chatting with Mike about his farm, to Eddie's small hand, resting on the bench. Currently, it was the only barrier cutting off flush contact between the two boys, which was how they normally were when sitting next to each other. 

Richie's own calloused hand slowly reached down to be placed, suggestively, next to Eddie's– his fingertips resting over Eddie's knuckles. He panicked when Eddie's entire demeanour changed from being confident and outgoing, to a stuttering mess. 

Richie's ego only boosted, simply because, holy shit, I made Eds react like that! So he decided to rest his whole hand on his Eddie's. Though it must have affected Eddie so much, that the smaller just stopped talking, his whole face flushing with the colour red. 

"I- Um- I have t-to go to the bathroom, excuse me," Eddie stumbled over his words, and in a flash, he was up and racing out of the cafeteria. 

Fuck, Richie thought to himself, I just ruined our whole friendship!

**Author's Note:**

> this is my first time posting to ao3 ever. sorry if my writing is kinda iffy lol, i will get better!


End file.
